Mexican-Style Sweet Shredded Pork

Many people in Utah love a restaurant called Cafe Rio. I would say one of their most popular dishes is their pork salad with cilantro-ranch dressing. I'm sure some of you know people with knock-off recipes...well, this is one of those (another good one from Our Best Bites- can you tell I've been using this cookbook a ton lately??). It doesn't taste exactly like Cafe Rio's pork salad but it's pretty close. So if you're far from Utah but are craving their pork salad, this is a good alternative. Or you could just make tacos or enchiladas with it.

The entire spread. I even bought those tin foil cake pans to serve it in. It was like we were really there! Ha.

Ingredients:
4 pounds boneless pork shoulder roast
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 (10-ounce) cans enchilada sauce -they don't specify red or green but I assumed they meant red, based on the picture in the cookbook...and the dish they are re-creating.
1 cup brown sugar, divided
1/2 cup salsa
1/2 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup apple juice

Directions:
1. Trim the visible fat from the roast and sprinkle with salt, pepper, chili powder, and onion powder. use your hands to massage the spices over all the sides of the meat.
2. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Sear the pork roast for about 1 minute on all sides or until the meat surface is golden brown.
3. While the meat is searing, combine the enchilada sauce, 2/3 cup brown sugar, salsa, Worcestershire sauce, and apple juice in a slow-cooker. Add the pork, cover, and cook on low for 7 hours with the lid on the entire time.
4. Remove pork and shred, discarding any pieces of fat. Add the additional 1/3 cup brown sugar to slow cooker and turn heat to high. Add shredded meat. Simmer with lid off for 30 minutes.

Serves about 12

If you've never been to Cafe Rio or Costa Vida, the idea here is to have a flour tortilla on the bottom of your serving dish (I bought the kind you cook on your stove, but they actually have a flour tortilla recipe if you're feeling up to it -it's really good, I made them to use up the leftover pork!). Then you chop up some romaine lettuce to put on top of the tortilla. Add whatever things you want, like corn, black beans, rice, avocado, tortilla strips, etc. Top with some of the Sweet Shredded Pork and drizzle over some Creamy Cilantro-Lime Ranch Dressing (which is actually really easy to make).

This might be a complicated dinner if the Sweet Pork wasn't so easy to make. The hardest part is prepping all the stuff you want to go on top of your salad! I hope you enjoy!